The Most Compelling Reason to Avoid Re-Signing Sam Darnold
Sam Darnold played well enough to earn a second contract with the Minnesota Vikings. Even still, the Vikings may allow the gifted veteran — still only 27 — to take his talents elsewhere.
Somewhat ironically, the greatest reason to avoid re-signing Mr. Darnold has nothing to do with Mr. Darnold. Rather, the issue flows from what’s taking place within the rest of the roster. Look ahead to 2026 and some major cap charges are going to hit the books, making an expensive quarterback supremely difficult to accommodate.
Sam Darnold and the Reason to Avoid Re-Signing Him
The plan, quite evidently, was to have a rookie QB — No. 10 pick J.J. McCarthy — functioning as the top passer by 2026. The approach allows for being able to carry the weighty contracts of excellent veterans playing at premium positions.
Consider, for instance, just the contract for Justin Jefferson. The WR1 (after much wailing and gnashing of teeth) agreed to an extension last offseason. The end result was a cap hit in 2024 that came in at a manageable $8.6 million; the cap hit in 2025 will be a still-reasonable $15.2 million; the cap hit in 2026 is going to explode, climbing up to a touch underneath $39 million.
So, quarterback money.
Jefferson stands out since his contract is so huge, but there are other great players who are similarly accounting for a large portion of the accounting.
The tackle tandem of Brian O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw are going to have some large cap charges, possessing near identical numbers in 2026 that come in above $23 million. Star tight end T.J. Hockenson sees his cap charge come in above $21 million. Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard is coming in at more than $22 million.
See the issue?
Seemingly all at once, the Vikings will need to find a way of navigating large cap hits to players who occupy premium positions. We’re talking about a WR1, a LT1, a RT1, a TE1, and an EDGE1. Great players playing very important positions for the Minnesota Vikings. Can the team really afford to also pay Sam Darnold?
In the NFL, the money always tells the truth. Coaches, executives, and players can say certain things. Consider what’s said but then place it alongside where the money is going. We’ll then see whether the words have any merit.
For the Vikings, the money tells us what their plan was. Yes, Adofo-Mensah may have once bristled at the notion that Mr. Darnold was a mere bridge quarterback, but the way he structured his team’s finances strongly suggest that he was planning on McCarthy being the starter by 2026.
Of course, the team could try to thread the needle. There’s open room in 2025 — $58 million — enough to bring Darnold back for another season while then moving on in 2026. Pursuing that strategy would give McCarthy a bit more time to get his body right as he continues to prepare himself to take over as a starter in the NFL.
The issue is simply that the NFL salary cap doesn’t exists in isolation from year to year. If, for instance, Minnesota saves $30 million within their 2025 budget, then that’s money that’s going to get shifted over into 2026, better positioning the team to afford those heavy cap charges that we discussed earlier.
So, keeping Sam Darnold in 2025 isn’t a perfect solution, one that has no bearing on 2026 when a lot of the cap hits really swell. Rather, it’s one that comes at a cost, a word that’s true in multiple senses.
Last season, Sam Darnold led Minnesota to a 14-3 record before falling flat in the playoffs. One could argue that Darnold was the main reason why the Vikings lost in Week 18 and then in the Wild Card Round. Nevertheless, he was one of the main reasons why Minnesota snagged an elite record. He put together a 66.2% completion rate to stand alongside 4,319 yards, 35 touchdown passes, and 12 interceptions. QB1 production.
Darnold snagged a $10 million deal last offseason. If Minnesota doesn’t use the franchise tag, Darnold is going to triple or quadruple that yearly number across a multi-year deal.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
Kevin O’Connell Didn’t Take the Bait
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.